Pasteboard berry box



E. E. PINKERTON PASTEBOARD BERRY BOX Oct. 12 1926.

Filed August 15, 1925 INVENTOR ZZJ /A/KEPTON ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 12,1926.

UNITED STATES I 1,602,702 PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD ELLSWOBTHIINKERTON, OI CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

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Application filed August 15, 1925. Serial No. 50,501.

folded and the parts locked together, without any necessity of the use of staples, nails, or other forms of securing devices.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described, which, when folded in position for use, has

an upper portion of rectangular shape, and

a lower integral portion which tapers toward the bottom, thereby providing means for suitably spacing the box apart in the crate to provide ventilation between the boxes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a blank form which, when folded,

as reenforcing means at the corners, while at the same time the folding of the box portions is facilitated by cutting away certain parts on one side to permit the ad acent edges to come closely together.

A further object is to provide a box of the t pe described, which is firmly secured toget er in its folded position.

A further object'is to provide a box which may be shipped in its flat condition, and

' which may be readily folded to make the completed structure.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out-in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which- Figure 1 shows the blank from which the box is made,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the box in its folded position, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the box, looking from beneath, and

Figure 4 is a perspective view, showing the manner in which the box is folded.

. In carrying our my invention, I make a blank by stamping a sheet, preferably of paste board. It will be observed that this lank has a center line 1 extending the length of the piece, which is scored so as to permit easy bending, and that on either similar to the On the opposlte side of the line 1 and beside thereof at'equal distances are scored lines 2 to permit the easy bending of the piece. Running transversely of the lines 1 and 2 are scored lines a, b, c, which extend between the lines 2. At the junction of the lines (a) and 2 there is a scored line a, while along the line am there is a cut so as to leave a triangular portion ay. Similarly, there are scored folding lines 6 and c and cuts baa and cm to leave portions dg and 0y ortion ay.

ginning at the scoring line 2 are cut-away portions as, be, and 0.2, these scored portions being cut away entirely. As will be seen from Figure 1, this divides the blank into four parts, corresponding to the four side' walls of the box, these four parts being indicated at A, B, C and D, respectively. Integral with the part A is an extension 3, a scored folding line 4 being provided. At 5 I have shown a cut whose purpose will be explained later. The outer ends of the portion 3- are cut in, the shape shown to provide hook members 6. Integral with the part Bis an extension 7, which is provided with a scored folding line 8, and which has a tongue member 9 having shoulders 10 for locking purposes. v The portion G has an extension 11 provided with a U-shaped cut 12, and a scoring line '13, while the portion D has an extension 15 with a slit 16 on its scored folding line 17. At the end of the portion D is a tongue member 18, having a central slit 19 and being enlarged at 20.

' From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, the operation thereof 'may be readily understood. The

blank is folded on theline 1. As viewed in Figure 1, the top line of thefigure would be brought over to coincide with the folding lines 4, 8, 13, and" 17 The folded portions .are then bent, along the lines a, b and c to form a square. The portions 20 of the tongue 18 are pushed toward each other, the slit A 19 permitting the inner edges to be forced past one another, and these ortions are passed through the U-shaped s ot'21 in the ortion A on the opposite side thereof (see Figure 4) and when the arts have resumed their normal .position, t e part D will be locked to the part A through the tongue and slot connection. The extension 11 is folded on the line 13 -to form a ortion of the box, and the extension 3 1s also folded toward the portion 11, while the locking portions 6 are pressedtogether, thrust through the slot 12, and locked by the springing of the portions 6 into their normal position. The portion 7 is then folded along the line 8, and the tongue portion 9 is passed into the slit 16, the shoulders 10 entering behind'the ends of the slot 16, so as to lock the box in its folded position.

Now it will be noted that when the box portions are folded into square form, after being bent along the line 1, the triangular portions ay, by and 03 will taken the positions indicated in Figure 2, in which positions they tend to close the corners to prevent the spillin of fruit, even if the corners should be pufied apart slightly. They furthermore act as strengthening strips. The cut-away portions as, be and 02 facilitate the folding of the box so as to make the lower side walls taper towards the bottom, while the upper side walls, as will be seen in Figure 3, are substantially vertical, when the box is in the crate.

In order to provide ventilation, openings, such as those shown at 22, may be provided, these openings being arranged so that they register when the parts are folded.

A box made in accordance with the invention can be manufactured at relatively low cost, but due to the efiicient manner of looking, it will retain its position and can be handled substantially the same as a wooden box. As stated before, the box, when in a crate, will be spaced from the adjacent box at its lower portion, so as to allow the circulation of air between the boxes.

I claim 1. A berry box comprising a single piece.

of material having a scored longitudinal .folding line and being provided with cutaway portions on one side of theline, and

triangular-shaped stiffening members on the opposite side of the line arranged to register with the cutaway portions when the material is folded on said longitudinal line, the material between the cutaway portions forming, together with that between the stiffening members, the sides of the box when folded transversely to the longitudinal folding line, and each of said side portions having integral extensions for formmg part of the box bottom.

2. A berry box comprising a single piece of material having a scored longitudinal folding line and being provided with cutaway portions on one side of the line, and triangular-shaped stiffening members on the opposite side of the line arranged to register with the cutaway portions when the material is folded on said longitudinal line, the material between the cutaway portions forming, together with that between the stiffening members, the sides of the box when folded transversely to the longitudinal folding line, each of said side portions having integral extensions for forming part of the box bottom, a pairof said extensions having tongues, and the other pair having slots arranged to receive said tongues for locking the bottom portions together.

3. A berry box comprising a single piece of material having a scored longitudinal folding line and being provided with cutaway portions on one side of the line, and triangular-shaped stiffening members on the opposite side of the line arranged to register with the cutaway portions when the ma terial is folded on said longitudinal line, the material between the cutaway portions forming, together with that between the stiffening members, the sides of the box when foldedtransversely to the longitudinal folding line, each of said side ortions having integral extensions for forming part of the box bottom, a pair of said extensions having tongues, the other pair having slots arranged to receive said tongues for locking the bottom portions together, and means for locking together certain of said side porgions when the latter are folded to form the 4. A berry box comprising a single piece of material having a central scored fold-' ing line running longitudinally of the piece, parallel scored folding lines on each side of said central line, said piece having triangular cutaway portions extending to one of said parallel scored lines on one side ofsaid central scored line, and having triangular shaped stiffening members extending from the other parallel scored line to the edge of the piece, said stiffening members being detached on one side and being scored to bend, integral extensions between the adjacent cutaway portions, each of said extensions formlng a bottom portion of the box, means for securing the opposite ends of the piece together when the piece is folded, and means for securing oppositely disposed bottom pieces together when the extensions are folded.

EDWARD ELLSWORTl-l PINKERTON. 

